The Eternaut is a new science fiction series on Netflix. It’s in Spanish, but it has English subtitles and English-dubbed dialogue, if you prefer that. It was recommended to me by my online Spanish tutor.
There are several interrelated premises in the series, many of which hearken back to ideas from classic 50’s science fiction. Without having too many spoilers in this review, think of some of the science fiction premises you might have found in Robert Heinlein’s 1950’s novels. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen these types of ideas before, but I didn’t know much going into the series. The concepts presented weren’t new to me, but it was like being surprised by an old friend you randomly run into somewhere you didn’t expect to see them. Like if you went to a foreign country and randomly saw your old high school pal, or, perhaps, a South American version of your old buddy.
The other interesting aspect for me was its setting in a foreign country. It’s based on an Argentine graphic novel of the same name, which was published in the late 1950’s, as a serialized comic strip. The Netflix series was produced in Argentina, with Argentine actors, director, and writers. This gave it a bit of a different flavor, and helped keep my interest up, although I had to have some of the cultural aspects, such as a card game they play, explained to me by my Spanish tutor.
Overall, there were enough twists and turns in the plot, with enough clues and surprise revelations about the nature of the dangers in the story line, to keep me wondering what would happen next.
